Retail in Asia

In Shops

ICSC’s RECon Asia 2011 scheduled to run 2-4 Nov in Shanghai

The International Council of Shopping Centers, Inc. on Tuesday released details of ICSC RECon Asia 2011, the sixth annual regional edition of the Council’s convention and exhibition, which this year will be held at Intex Shanghai.

The global association’s Asia convention brings together the world’s top executives in retail, retail real estate development, leasing, management and lending, as well as academic and government experts. Delegates from the region and from across the world gather annually at ICSC RECon Asia to discuss a wide spectrum of industry issues from the challenges of growing retail businesses in new markets to hedging currency risk.

The 2011 event will be hosted for the second time in China, signalling the global retail real estate community’s growing interest in the country. Despite its challenges, China remains for global players the one market that must be tamed, the one market that cannot be overlooked by any retail real estate player with global aspirations.

For some investors, fence-sitting has come at a cost. Opportunities in China’s first-tier cities are already narrowing as these markets begin to mature. "More and more, if you talk about China these days, the focus tends to be on second- and third-tier cites," said ICSC Asia Pacific director Tan Guan Heng.

"The question for this year’s convention is, have those second and third-tier cities learned from earlier mistakes? Three or four years ago, many foreign players charged into them – only to abandoned their plans in many cases because the markets weren’t ready." One big problem was the lack of skilled labor, Tan recalled. "But maybe that’s been solved – one way or the other, we’ll get the answer to that and a lot of other questions at RECon Asia."

China’s economy continues at a gallop, spreading wealth beyond China’s coastal centers. According to China’s National Bureau Statistics, second-quarter GDP rose 9.6 percent year on year in the first six months of 2011 over. Chinese consumption showed an even sharper increase: first half 2011 total retail sales of consumer goods were CNY8.58 trillion (USD1.33 trillion), up 16.8 percent over the same period in 2010.

India and Vietnam, sizeable investment destinations in their own right, are also expected to get a lot of attention at RECon Asia 2011. Tan said many investors still view them as the next big thing. "But early movers have been frustrated there too and the industry, as a whole, have taken a more cautious and measured approach to these two markets," he said. "So I expect many delegates will be coming looking for answers to questions like "how and when can we realize their potential?"

Japan will also be getting some of the attention with its USD1.5 trillion consumer market, which is three times that of India. "Japan is coming back from its 11 March calamity with typical resilience," Tan said. "But what will be the outlook over the next five years? It bodes well for all of Asia to have a stable and prosperous Japan. However, Japan has to juggle a great number of issues – from a stable political administration to fiscal and monetary policies – in the immediate future."

RECon Asia 2011 will be mounting a comprehensive programme. While the Conference features speakers and panels addressing key industry issues, the exhibition will showcase new and upcoming retail real estate projects and the latest products and services.

With over 80 percent of the 6,000-square-metre exhibition space already sold, many of the region’s top players have already committed to the event – among them: AEON Mall, Ayala Land, Inter IKEA Center Group, Insite Asset Management Group, McDonald’s, MK Illumination, SCP, Tuabman Asia, Taubman TCBL and Yanguang Co. Ltd.

The annual ICSC Asia Pacific Shopping Center Awards will be presented at a reception on 3 November, following the first day’s conference programme. "The Asia Shopping Center Awards is a recognition programme aimed at honoring the best of the best in Asia," said ICSC’s Tan. "The quality of Asian entries has been going from strength to strength, as exemplified by AEON LakeTown." The Japanese mall won ICSC’s global "VIVA Best-of-the-Best" award for sustainable design in Las Vegas at RECON 2011 in May. This year the Asia Pacific Award programme attracted 141 entries, 10 percent up on 2010. "Entries from Mainland China increased 25 percent," Tan said, "solid recognition of ICSC’s work in promoting best practice in China’s mall industry."